Windows 10 free for Windows Phone users

Goodbye Windows Phone and hello, er, Windows 10 Phone . In its slew of announcements today, Microsoft disclosed that it is trying to brand all its devices simple as Windows 10 – whether PC, tablet, phablet or phone.

At its Windows 10 media briefing, Microsoft announced that Windows 10 will be offered as a free download to customers using Windows 8.1, Windows 7 and Windows Phone 8.1. The free upgrade will be available to all of those customers – 200 million using Windows 8.1 alone – for a year after its official release date.

At present, that release is yet to be disclosed but it is thought though that Microsoft will make the consumer version available for download from mid-2015.

The revelation that Windows 10 will also be available as a free upgrade for Windows Phone users means that the company has confirmed it is killing off the separate Windows Phone operating system. Instead, Windows 10 is scalable and will form the system software of all its devices- laptops, tablets and desktop computers, naturally, but also Xbox One, smartphones and wearables.

Microsoft has made the move to reassure developers that they can develop for one platform, knowing that their software will work on multiple devices. It also means that Windows Phone owners will get more apps as the platform will encourage developers to include Windows in their plans.